Hilary Platt
Every professional displayed on Counselling Directory has been independently verified by our team to ensure they have suitable credentials to practise.
This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
I have 22 years experience as a practitioner and 10 years experience doing online therapy. I am currently offering face-to-face and online therapy to new clients.
I have been a UKCP Registered Psychotherapist since 2000 and a BACP Accredited Counsellor since 2006. I work in Camberley, Surrey and also run sessions weekly in Canary Wharf, E14. I have worked full-time as a psychotherapist since 2006 so have a great deal of experience of working with clients with all kinds of difficulties. I have a Masters level training, which takes 5 years to complete and psychotherapy has been my full-time profession since 2006. However, I also have many years experience of working in IT for commercial organisations and four years experience lecturing in an HE and FE college.
I offer psychotherapy to individuals and couples and work on a short or long-term basis. I aim to provide a compassionate and empathic, but down-to-earth approach to psychotherapy and counselling, which takes account of personal history and yet which can be focused and goal-oriented too.
I see many clients who have tried other different types of therapy, but whose problems persist. As a practitioner, I have chosen to be a psychotherapist as it is the best approach for getting to the bottom of problems and difficulties, when other therapies may only succeed in scratching the surface. In depth training and many years of experience have enhanced my skills at diagnosis and formulating the 'underlying issues'. People who have tried other approaches (CBT, person-centred counselling and other 'evidence-based therapies') with limited success can find the resolution, which has previously eluded them, in psychotherapy. In part this is because psychotherapy works from the position of everyone being unique and individual - there is no 'set script'. Although I am very interested in 'symptoms', my approach is not 'symptom-driven' - each person's difficulty and its expression is unique to them and context and personal history are very much part of the story.
As an integrative practitioner, I am not partisan to one particular type of therapy, as when I trained, it became apparent to me that no one approach had the monopoly on success, nor was any one approach a panacea for all issues. Instead I have incorporated into my practice understanding and techniques from a number of different therapies, which gives me flexibility to work with a broad range of issues. My Humanistic stance means that I see every client as unique and expert in their own story and I use techniques from a number of different Humanistic therapies. At the same time, I work psychodynamically especially when dealing with relationship issues and repeating patterns in peoples' lives. I also am trained in CBT and would see working cognitively and behaviourally as the best way with certain issues and this is often the approach which can bring about change, once underlying issues have been understood and processed.
I work with an awareness of pharmacology - and with people who are having difficulties withdrawing from pharmaceutical medications. I am also familiar with psychiatric diagnoses and work with an awareness of other factors in the broader context, which can influence mood and anxiety levels.
Training, qualifications & experience
Training and approach
MSc and Diploma in Integrative Psychotherapy 2000 from Metanoia
AEB Certificate in Counselling Skills
AEB Certificate in Counselling Theory
Certificate in Couples Counselling
CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) training
Certificate in Education
BA Honours Degree
I chose to train at MSc level and undergo a full psychotherapy training leading to UKCP registration, rather than undertaking a counselling qualification, because this gives practitioners a capacity to work with a greater breadth of issues and at greater depth. UKCP registration is perhaps less well known than BACP Accreditation, but its standards are more demanding and more hours of training, clinical practice, clinical supervision and personal therapy are required.I have subsequently undertaken the BACP Accreditation process in recognition of this being a better known ‘kitemark’ for therapists.
I use CBT techniques, in common with many NHS practitioners, which focus on current thoughts and behaviours, but to achieve a more fundamental change or for complex problems, other approaches are often needed. Everyone's story, history and way of being is unique - and needs careful attention as part of the work. Often people experience 'repeating patterns' in their lives, and it is through examining this unique personal history and understanding 'how that affects me now' that more fundamental change can be facilitated. My belief is that it is negative feelings, very often depression or anxiety which most often bring people to therapy - but that 'blind spots' often prevent people from making the progress that they want in their lives. Therefore working with feeling, thinking and behaviour can help with improved emotional well-being.
Experience
I have worked for many years in a variety of commercial environments and have also taught in an FE/HE college. I work currently for an organisation, who provide talking therapy services through IAPT to NHS patients. I also have a great deal of experience as a private practitioner and working within Employee Assistance Programmes seeing clients from both public and private sector organisations. I have had a busy private practice for 16 years. I also undertake work for the prison service and have experience of working with visually impaired clients and with Agoraphobia, for which I do home visits. I am registered as a Mental Health Wellbeing Specialist with BUPA and a number of other private health insurers.
I am also experienced as a Couples and Relationship therapist.
Member organisations
Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.
The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) is a leading professional body for the education, training and regulation of psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors. Its register is accredited by the government's Professional Standards Authority.
As part of its commitment to protect the public, it works to improve access to psychotherapy, to support and disseminate research, to improve standards and to respond effectively to complaints against its members.
UKCP standards cover the range of different psychotherapies. Registration is obtained by training or accrediting with one of its member organisations, or by holding a European Certificate in Psychotherapy. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred).
Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision.
Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training.
All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.
Accredited register membership
The Accredited Register Scheme was set up in 2013 by the Department of Health (DoH) as a way to recognise organisations that hold voluntary registers which meet certain standards. These standards are set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
This therapist has indicated that they belong to an Accredited Register.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Other areas of counselling I deal with
Couples Counselling
Couples Therapy
Relationship Therapy
Pschotherapy
Social Phobia
Social Anxiety
Depression
Anxiety
Generalised Anxiety
Loss
Bereavement
Relationship Breakdown
Parenting Issues
Family Issues
Agoraphobia
Therapies offered
Fees
£60.00 - £90.00
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
Fees in Camberley:-
Individuals - £60
Couples - £70
Online sessions - £60
Fees in Canary Wharf
Individuals before 5pm - £80
Individuals after 5pm - £90
Couples - £90
Please note - I do not offer BUPA in Canary Wharf, but am happy to offer online.
When I work
Flexible to do online sessions during COVID-19 outbreak.
I am now offering face-to-face sessions in Canary Wharf on Mondays
Further information
My style of therapy is very down-to-earth, open and egalitarian. I regard therapy not only as relational, but also as an educational and collaborative experience - I am usually happy to share my theoretical thinking and am open about my rationale for the course of our work. I also believe that change happens outside of the consulting room as well as inside, so part of the collaboration is sometimes in designing 'homework' tasks so that you can be proactive in making changes outside of the sessions.
Sometimes clients are not looking to make great changes in their lives, but instead want a forum to talk about thoughts and feelings to enable them to come to terms with things that have happened or are happening in their lives. I am very happy to provide that and it is often the relationship with the therapist which is facilitative here.
I do not commit you to a fixed number of sessions, but allow you to explore the issues in your own time scales and we collaborate on how to proceed at regular review points.
I have noticed as my experience has grown that I have become more adept at assessment and find that I am able to arrive more quickly at an insightful understanding of issues which clients bring. This is in part experience, but also comes from having worked for a long time in contexts where the number of sessions is limited, so coming more directly to the heart of the problem is essential .
